- What gives you joy?
- Do you take time out to do what gives you joy?
- What makes you feel overwhelmed?
- Do you spend too much time feeling overwhelmed?
Do you spend enough time doing something that gives you joy, and do you spend more time feeling overwhelmed?
As a business owner often we enter into this with rose-tinted glasses so we can work for ourselves, earn our own money, be our own boss, work our own hours, however the reality is often this is far from the truth, which is where initial joy can turn to a feeling of being overwhelmed and feeling totally helpless.
Here are some tips to work on reducing or minimising being or feeling overwhelmed. Why not take one or two of these from this week’s blog to work on and see how you go, working through the list introducing more each time, remembering to increasing things to do that give you joy.
How to move from Overwhelm to Joy:
Saying no – a lot of people struggle with this, it’s less about being able to say no, more about stopping saying yes and introducing saying instead “let me get back to you about this” to give you time to consider properly the value of your reply and any work you may be committing yourself to.
Taking time out for yourself – you could argue, easier said than done, however, when the brain stops functioning properly and concentration dips, taking that time out even just for five minutes, standing outside, doing diaphragmatic breathing and gentle stretches can generate oxygen into the brain making us feel more energised and positive.
Focusing on positive not negative – another tough one, but if we feed the negative voice then it will take over everything. You have the power to shut it up, turn it off, walk away, tell yourself something positive, introducing a mantra or an affirmation, even listen to some guided meditation, break the cycle – you can do it!
Time management – this is huge and something that most people struggle with, as a business coach & mentor I spend more time with this than anything else. Working on creating a ‘To Do list’ and properly prioritising what you do and when you do it which requires careful planning, then working out what’s important and urgent and working through this methodically. A great read is Brian Tracey’s book ’Eat That Frog’, doing the worst job first to get it over and done with.
Busy vs productive – we can often be very busy but not productive nor effective, some would say we’ve ended up being busy doing nothing. This isn’t a great place to be, so taking a taking step back to become more proactive than reactive which still sits under time management.Ask yourself, is what I’m doing chargeable or non-chargeable i.e. will it make me money now or in the future, if neither then why do you need to do it..
If you need help with any of the above remember to consider engaging support from a business coach and mentor who can be your sounding board, accountability buddy as well as providing you with clarity, focus and direction.
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